


The Heart of the Ocean

by Deimos_Ovid



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura (Voltron) is a doctor, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Friends to Lovers, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Being an Asshole, Keith (Voltron) is a nurse, Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Lance (Voltron) has nightmares, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Pansexual Shiro (Voltron), Protective Hunk (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro (Voltron) was in the army, Supportive Hunk (Voltron), shance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 17:20:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14773895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deimos_Ovid/pseuds/Deimos_Ovid
Summary: Lance and Shiro met at a physical therapy group.Shiro lost his arm in the army after an IED (improvised explosive device) exploded. Due to the loss of extremities Shiro was sent back to the U.S. with a Medal of Honor and a handshake from some higher up. The tragic bit is, the army is Shiro’s life. He would rather die then never be able to serve his country again. We’ll see how well that works out.Lance lost his leg while swimming with sharks as he is a scientist who had triple majors in Marine Biology mainly the researching and study of sharks, a Chemical Oceanographer mainly looking for identify potentially beneficial ocean resources such as natural products that can be used as medicines, and an animal photographer. What good is a Marine Biologist, whose life is the ocean might I add, he the Biologist can’t swim. Much less walk without a cane.This fic is about recovering. Surviving a tremendous loss and finding ways to keep on fighting. I am writing this for myself so, I update when I want.(This took a lot of research. A LOT. Do you know what a Tasseled Wobbegong is? Do you?)





	1. Chapter 1

-Hunk’s POV-

Hunk was anxious. Well, he was always anxious but, more so than usual. This was because Lance is diving without a protective cage. Hunk was against it but, when Lance makes up his mind about something nobody can ever change it. Hunk smiled at that thought. Remembering the story of how Lance chose his majors that made him the doctor he is today. Lance told this story only once and it was to Hunk.  
-flashback to the memory-

When Lance was in third grade and still lived in Cuba, his social studies teacher put on a video of the president John. F Kennedy giving a speech. The lines that really, and truly, spoke to Lance was, “We are tied to the ocean. When we go back to the sea, we are going back from whence we came.” 

Words have power was what Lance told Hunk. And the power, the sheer potency, of these words were great on Lance. The nine-year-old made it his mission to learn everything about his home. His ocean.

-end of flashback memory-

Which brings Hunk to the present with an eighteen year old boy genius with a doctors in three majors, Marine Biology mainly the researching and study of sharks, Chemical Oceanographer mainly looking to identify potentially beneficial ocean resources such as natural products that can be used as medicines, and animal photographer documenting aquatic life. Hunk is only 23 and graduated as an engineer developing new machines to dive underwater. While Pidge, Hunk’s other best friend whom is nonbinary and is 20, designed the new cameras for the machines Hunk builds. Lance fits into this equation by testing out the final product and offering critique. 

The matter at hand though was Lance was diving into the water without a protective cage. This was Cape of Storms for crying out loud! Granted the trio moved to the marine biology base here to document the Great White Sharks. Hunk and Pidge had just finished designing a new device, one that can take better, more clear photos in murky waters. The trio had finally finished making their own tracking charts of the Fur Seals running the gauntlet into the ocean waters. 

When they got sufficient data about the gauntlet run, Lance suited up. Which is where they are now. 

-Lance’s POV-

The Ocean. The Ocean! A place that was equivalent to the arms of his mother. It was home. So when Lance jumped beneath the waves he entered into another world. Equipped with his suit, flippers, oxygen tank, and a newly built camera. He dived in. With the boat, nearby Lance was good to go. 

As he sunk into the depths of the Ocean, Lance did a full 360 turn scanning the area. The pack of Fur Seals was to his right. Trying to keep a safe distance Lance set up the camera. Now patience was the name of the game. Maybe that was why Lance never saw it coming. 

His leg felt like it was on fire. It hurt so much and a scream ripped through his throat. And then the water came flooding in. The pressure on Lance’s leg lessened but...Lance still couldn’t move it. He was sinking. Further and further away from the surface. The air in Lance’s lungs was burning and screaming for more. His mouthpiece was floating somewhere alongside him. His brain felt like it was exploding and as Lance sunk further into the Ocean’s depth. In Lance’s final and desperate act he removed all the air from his tank.  
Then sunk further. Into the abyss. Into bliss unconsciousness. Like a Greenland Shark swimming alone in an abyss. With a parasite eating away at his eyesight. Until finally darkness is all he can see. The body of Lance McClain living a long and lonely life in an abyss of the Ocean. 

Until he wasn’t. Snapping up and gasping for air on the deck of the boat. 

“M...my-my...my l-l-leg...my l-leg...” Lance gasped out. 

Someone was shushing him. He felt his head being cradled. 

“Shh. Shh. It’s going to be alright Lance. It’ll-It’s going to be okay. Shh.”

“Hunk we need to move him. He’s got to get to the hospital. His leg is...gone and there is nothing else we can do for him here.”

“Y-yeah. Yeah.” Hunk replied shakenly. “Hey,” Hunk said in a calming tone, “Little buddy, we got to move you. So it might hurt a bit. If the pain is too much you tell me, okay? Lance? Lance!” 

Hunk...help me...it hurts...my..leg...

“...was bitten off by a Great White Shark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is a Tasseled Wobbegong? Where can you find it?


	2. Chapter 2

-Shiro’s POV-

The team trod carefully. The area they were covering was rumored to be full of bombs. "Something is off" was what Shiro's gut has been screaming and he would be a fool not to listen to his gut. Naturally, Shiro signaled the men to halt and that was when he heard clicking noise. The sound of a goner, that was what the noise had been called, the noise a deadman hears before it all ends Those lucky enough to hear it before they step off the pressure plate have a slim chance of surviving. Slim. He looked to his left, KwangHo Shin, a nice man who volunteered to join the U.S. Army to fight against his country, had stepped on an IED. 

“Shin, don’t move.” He hissed out. Taking a crouching position to assess the situation. 

But terror makes fools out of people. And Shin’s foolish move was taking a step back. The IED went off. 

Shiro heard the cut of scream and bomb. He felt the sting of the fire. It burned and a scream was all he could feel. His scream. He was screaming. A fresh feeling of pain ran through him. Something hitting his face then Shiro only saw darkness. 

Waking up was strange. He was staring at the roof of a dark green-gray tent. He moved to drag his hand across his face but, it wasn’t there. His hand didn’t move. Shiro struggled to turn his head to look at his right arm. It wasn’t there. Everything seemed to have stopped working. His arm was gone. It wasn’t there!

The doctor stepped into the tent as Shiro was panicking. 

“Major Corporal Takashi calm down! It’s okay, you’re going to be alright. Do you remember what happened? The IED? One of your fellow soldiers had to knock you out.”

But Shiro stopped listening. How was he supposed to fight. They were in Korean and supplies were limited here. There was no way Shiro could continue to serve. How was he supposed to serve? How could he even dress himself? 

Breathing was impossible. As will living be. The army was his life. This marks the end of his life. Who gives a damn about losing an arm. It should have been his life instead. 

Looking around the room Shiro tried to find the sharpest object. Spying a scalpel Shiro moved for it. But what should have been a few steps felt like miles and those miles showed every single memory he had. The good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly. All of them, all that was him, all that he amounted to. But it meant nothing. Not anymore. If he couldn’t serve then his life was over. It is over. 

Suddenly all of his team was in the tent. Surrounding him. Shiro was on the ground, hugging one of his team members. Joined by the others. 

“You’re alive.”  
“You made it.”  
“You made it Major.”  
“You’re here.”  
“You survived.”

It was made clear to Shiro then. He was not allowed to die. If the joy that these people felt when they saw that he was alive made it worth the struggle. Worth the hassle of living. This...adjustment that Shiro would have to make would be like serving. He would serve. Just in a different way. 

He would serve the people he loved. The people that cared about him. It will be hard. It will be lonely for some moments but, as long as he has the people he loves. He’ll survive. He will have to. 

The rest of the night was spent with all of Shiro’s team. Retelling stories and laughing over the inside jokes. A personal favorite arose. The time Shiro joined the army. 

-the flashback to the memory-

The first couple of weeks of boot camp are full of medical and dental exams, and if any trainee needed a procedure, it happens right there. Tons of trainees had their wisdom teeth pulled, and Shiro came back right before lights out with his mouth full of gauze and loopy from the drugs  
His DI called all of the other trainees to the center of the room, formed the trainees up, and then told them to sit Indian style on the floor, and that Shiro was going to tell them a bedtime story. The DI pulled up a chair for Shiro and then told him to tell us the story of the battle of the Monitor and Merrimac.  
Shiro mumbled that he didn't know the story, so the DI told him to just make it up, and for every fact that Shiro got right, the unit would get to sleep an extra five minutes in the morning. What followed was like a live episode of Drunk History, minus any factual accuracy.  
As best as Shiro could recall, the Monitor was British, the Merrimack was “Old Ironsides”, and that in the end, “they shot the shit out of each other and everybody died. The end.” We were all dying laughing, but the DI sat there stone-faced. After Shiro was done, DI just stood up and said, “That is exactly how it happened.”

-end of the flashback-

Bitter sweet tears welled in Shiro’s eyes. Moments like those will never be able to get back. To achieve something like that again would be impossible. To serve with his unit. To serve his country. But he has to serve on. Just for the people that he cares about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How fast is the Mako Shark?


	3. Chapter 3

It was the rhythm of a steady beeping noise that woke Lance up. What a weird dream. His eyes fluttered open but, something wasn’t right. The room...it wasn’t his.  
“Hey,” A familiar voice dragged out the word, “How ya feelin’ lil buddy?”  
Hunk. It was Hunk.  
“H-Hunk?” Lance whispered.  
“Yeah, yeah. It’s me. Do...do you remember wh-what happened?”  
Lance shook his head.  
“There...You-you were in a...a shark attack.”  
A sense of dread washed over Lance.  
“You were,” Hunk let out a cough before continuing, “drowning and you saved yourself by re-releasing all of the a-air in your tank. The next thing that happened was a miracle. The nearby seals...” Hunk marveled for a little bit and gave Lance and chance to reel, “The seals circled around you, protecting you until the rescue boat reached you. But...um..Lance when we,” Again Hunk cleared his throat and huffed a sigh, “When we found you, your leg was...gone.”

“No.” Lance denied it shaking his head. His leg was still there as if to prove it to himself Lance looked down at where his legs were. 

“No no no no no! NO! Hunk, Hunk tell me it isn’t true. Tell me it isn’t. Hunk!” Lance sobbed as he looked at his left leg. No, as he looked at a stump. 

Hunk turned his head away and Lance was frantic. The heart rate monitor was blaring, matching the pounding in his chest. 

“Look at me! Hunk! Where...where’s my leg?” The question left the lips of a broken man. So, full of pain and hurt but, the silence among the two friends hurt more. 

A nurse interrupted the silence and moved instantly to the IV drip. Lance was sobbing even harder, Hunk right along with him. 

“L-Lance...Pidge is...they are working on making you a...prosthetic.” A sour taste was left in Hunk’s mouth after saying the word. 

The truth is a very bitter pill to swallow but, as Hunk talked Lance flinched at the mentioning of a false limb. A buzzing white noise canceled out everything Lance could hear. It felt like he was drowning again. Sinking further and further into the abyss. 

Without any warning, Lance threw up. Trying desperately to rid himself of the taste of the Ocean. To rid himself of the water he choked down. Breathing was foreign to Lance. How could he? He was slowing drowning all the while wishing for Hunk to comfort him with lies. 

“Breathe Lance! Come on, nice and slow. I need a nurse in here! I need some help!” The engineer desperately cried as he tried to hold Lance down. 

Hunk...Lance thought...I wish that I had drowned instead. Why do I have to live? I don't want t-

“Don’t you ever say something like that again!” Hunk yelled. Lance realized that he must have said what he was thinking, “You lived because you fought to survive and because of that Lance, you are here now.”

“Death would have been...easier. I want...I want to die.” Lance stated. 

“You listen to me here and now, don’t you ever say something like that again. Sure, your life now is going to be hard and it feels like your world has ended.” Hunk pauses to catch his breath, “But it hasn’t. Pidge and I are going to be with you every step..of the way. You are going to live because you fought to do so. Don’t ruin it, don’t waste it, because you are facing a setback. I need you, Pidge needs you, we both do because you’re a brother to us. Because you have a family that loves you and dying would break their hearts. So, you are going to fucking live. If living for yourself isn’t good enough then you are going to live for those who love you. You aren’t going to take the easy way out. You are going to keep on fighting until you can living normally again.” Hunk was heaving for air now. His speech was messy but, the message got through to Lance: 

Live for your loved ones and keep on fighting through the hardships because you won't be ending the pain but, passing it to someone else. The would be selfish and Lance was not a selfish person. He loved his family and friends enough to live for them.

A nurse came running in and after a few moments Lance spiraled into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me 1 cool fact about the Greenland Shark


End file.
